At least eight people died after a hotel in eastern China collapsed, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The bodies of eight people were recovered while a further nine people were missing in the rubble, the city government of Suzhou in Jiangsu province said.

The Siji Kaiyuan Hotel in the city’s Wujiang District suddenly collapsed on Monday afternoon.

So far, 14 people have been rescued, with 13 of them injured, the city government said.

A large-scale rescue and recovery operation was underway, with search dogs and teams including earthquake specialists deployed, the city said.

The cause of the collapse was not initially clear and was being investigated.

The provincial authorities called for safety inspections to prevent similar incidents happening elsewhere.

Suzhou is around 100 kilometres east of Shanghai.